Home in New York
by Jasmin Kaiba
Summary: They lived across each other and yet never exchanged names, till one day he reads he article in Times and realizes it's her. Her article starts a beautiful friendship, but will they ever find home in New York? Sophie/Rogan please R
1. Prologue

**Home In New York**

**by Jasmin Kaiba**

**Prologue**

_'New York, the city of never ending possibilities, the city that never sleeps, the city that is so incredibly fast paced that slow people would be lost here. Also the city where you can wait for hours for a cab and where the weather changes from one second to the next, you never can determine if it'll be sunny or windy or rainy. This is one of the world's biggest metropolis and business centers, everything happens in New York. So incredibly many people live in New York that you'd be searching forever for one person if you ever decide to search in it's many streets and houses. There are so many stories, so many destinies, that you can come to think that the whole world has found itself in the streets of New York. No matter how long you've lived in New York, you've never seen all of it. The streets in New York don't mix, and that's the reason you never know everything about it. People like me live in apartments in the Fifth and the Sixth Avenue and spend their time mostly in Manhattan, we don't venture to Queens, we don't want to, we have no need to. People from the Queens come o our streets, but they're so easily recognized between the hustle and bustle of business suits, laptop bags and sport cars._

_That's the one thing I love and yet hate in New York, when you venture out of your 'domain' everybody looks at you, and yet when you mix with the crowd nobody even knows you exist. I've lived for three years now in New York. I love my life, but I don't call New York home, and I don't know why. I have a good paid job, live in a beautiful apartment in the Fifth Avenue, have many friends, go out and still something is missing. I know I'm not the only one, my neighbor for once, I bet he feels the same way. He lives across the street, our balconies and windows face each other and we see the other quite often, yet I don't even know his name. But I know that he gets up the same time I, drinks his morning coffee on the balcony like me, goes to work a few minutes earlier then I and returns later then I do. We live the same life of routine and we don't even see it necessary to say hey or introduce ourselves, when we can particularly touch the other over the railing of the balcony. But why is that? Why are we living day in day out without really living for a moment? Is it the big city, or are we just stuck in our routines and don't know how to come out?_

_I don't know maybe you can tell me._

_Rory Gilmore'_

Logan Huntzberger read the article once again and smiled to himself. So his pretty neighbor was the Times columnist he's been reading every Wednesday since two years. Who would have thought?

Had she not written about him, he would have never known it was her. He had known the pretty girl since three years, and yet they had never said their names or talked at all, for that matter. They both lived their lives, he went to work, got home, spent the weekends with friends and sometimes family and that was it. New York had really never been home, but did it need a column in the Times for him to figure it out? Obviously it did.

He sighed and folded the paper, he'll definitely introduce himself to the blue-eyed beauty when he gets home. Maybe they can get a coffee.

**AN: My first more chapter story on Gilmore Girls. Please tell me what you think. Reviews make the world spin and make me update sooner.**

**Jas **


	2. Master & Commander and his Ace

**Chap. 1: Master & Commander and his Ace**

Logan left his office building, slightly lost in thought, calculating the time he would need back to his apartment and if his pretty neighbor was back already. But if his watch was right, she would be taking a shower right about now and would be coming out in fifteen minutes, clad in only a towel and sitting by her computer, not bothering to find some clothes. He'd been sick one day and stayed home, thus had the possibility to knowing this routine.

He came to a red light and stopped with at least ten other people, waiting to cross the street, not looking around. If he had, he would have seen the brown-haired, blue-eyed reporter who he was thinking about just a step behind him. She was clad in a white summer dress with thin straps, only long enough to cover her knees and look decent. Her hair was left free, long bangs obscuring most of her face, white roman sandals adored her feet and a computer bag was slung over her right shoulder. She was as beautiful as always and she was looking at the unruly blonde head in front of her, deciding that it was her neighbor and that it was time to say hello.

"Hey there, stranger."

Logan startled at the soft voice and looked behind him, seeing the current star of his thoughts smiling at him. A small smile stretched his lips as he turned to fully face her.

"Ah, if that isn't my pretty neighbor. How are you?"

He watched amused as her cheeks turned pink and she smiled shyly back at him.

"I'm good, you?"

He smirked and leaned closer, making her blush a little bit more, before he answered her.

"Why, I'm very good. And I'd be better if you'd tell me your name."

Her smile turned into a smirk as she realized that he was flirting with her. Flirt back she could and she would.

"Why my name is Rory. Does my handsome neighbor have a name too?"

Realizing what she was doing, Logan leaned even closer and ended up whispering in her ear.

"Logan is my name, but you can call me Master and Commander, Ace."

Rory raised an eyebrow. Now this guy didn't lack self-confidence that was sure, he seemed to have a tad too much of it.

"Master and Commander? Aren't we a bit full of ourselves? And what's up with Ace?"

And the smirk was back, full blast. She didn't know if she liked or hated it. Sure, it looked great on his handsome face, but it slightly infuriated her.

"Well, it's fitting, don't you think? Oh and I beg to differ, I'm not full of myself, I'm just overly confident. But aren't you the Ace Reporter, Ace?"

Ace Reporter? But how did he know that she was a journalist? Then she saw the Times in his hand and smiled. This one had a brain, he'd put two and two together and realized that she was Rory Gilmore and judging by his behavior, he's figured it out just by reading her latest column, of course she did write about him there.

"So you got me figured out, huh?"

Logan smiled. He should have known that she was smart. She worked for the Times, one of the best newspapers in the world, their reporters were smart, witty and well-read, and quite frankly, he'd seen this one read so much he doubted there's a book she hasn't read yet.

"But of course, Ace. You're not the only one smart."

Her smile was beautiful and so very addicting, he couldn't help the grin that broke out at the sight of her beaming features, and she was a vision.

"Say 'Master and Commander', you want to grab a coffee with me?"

Now this one didn't waste time, but the look in her glowing azure orbs told him that she wasn't plotting to get in his pants, she was just being friendly. And why the hell not? He wanted to ask her that same thing anyway, but that didn't mean he couldn't tease her a bit more.

"Why Ace, I thought the guys was supposed to ask the girl..."

He accented his word with a playful wink but she just raised an elegant eyebrow at him.

"I don't know in what century you live, but I live in the twenty first. I'm in no way tied to the tradition of guys asking girls out. I'm a Gilmore Girl, I make my own traditions. So if I want to ask you out, kiss you or anything else I'll do it, and you'll fell flattered, because you've got yourself a Gilmore Girl!"

Logan laughed heartily. If he'd known the girl had character besides the looks he would've spoken to her sooner.

"Whatever you say, Ace! So take me out for coffee, by all means, but then you'll take the bill, too."

Her adorable – beautiful face scrunched up at this.

"Nu-uh, mister. You don't make a Gilmore Girl pay for anything, it's bad points in Mama Lorelei Gilmore's book and you don't want that, now do you?"

This girl was going to be the end of him; he knew it and he loved it. She was perfect.

"Of course not, Ace. I want Mama Gilmore to love me, don't I?"

And again the eyebrow.

"Mama Gilmore is Emily, and it's an insult to call Mama Lorelei Gilmore her mother, you'll learn soon enough why, though. Trust me; you don't wan to make that mistake twice."

"Why don't we discuss this over the coffee you offered? The light's green anyway."

He led her over the street with a hand on the small of her back as she scowled at him again.

"I offered nothing! I proposed, you're paying, mister."

He just laughed, he already had the feeling they'd be getting along more then well, as long as he paid that is.

**AN: And the second chapter! Hope you liked it. I'm sorry for the long wait, but my computer broke down and I was unsure of this chapter as it was, then I had to rewrite it.**

**Don't forget – reviews make the world spin and me update sooner.**

**Thanks for your wonderful feedback!**

**Jas**


	3. As Old as the World

**Chap. 2: As Old as the World**

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**AN: I know, I'm a lazy bastard, but please don't hate me! It's just been so hectic around here, with work, my husband, the children and everything. Recently I was in a car accident, our first wedding anniversary was last week, my computer had broken down few weeks prior and me as a free-lance journalist had so much to write, since I get paid per article and I took so many, to lose most of them when the damned machine collapsed... I didn't know where my head had been. **

**But this is finally the third chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

_'I wonder if it ever had occurred to people just how slim the chances are that someday you'll meet a person who's your polar opposite, yet so similar to you in many different ways. We see the world as large, as never-ending, as something that gives so many opportunities that it's impossible to grasp them all. And yet I believe that it's wrong. I've heard someone once say 'The world is a tea-cup' and I personally like that, because even if we lose sight of someone on one end we might find that same person on the other end of the world. And one day you'll realize that you've been looking in the face of someone you've been missing your whole life, without knowing it. I know I did. I never thought of myself as blind, this proves just how highly I thought of myself. And falsely.'_

'Could it be that I'm once again her subject?' This question ran through Logan's head as he sat at his breakfast table that Sunday morning, munching on a toast and reading his favorite column in the Times. It's already been over two weeks since that faithful day that Rory Gilmore had approached him and they've gotten along just fine.

It seems that they've even become more then close friends in the short time, always making time for a coffee, lunch or phone-call. When they were too busy for anything more, a quick chat over the railings of their balconies at evening did just fine by them.

He looked towards the window and to her apartment, no still quite and dark, she hadn't gotten up yet. She was a long-sleeper when she had the opportunity and he'd learned the hard way just what it meant to wake a Gilmore Girl from her beauty sleep on a Sunday morning. That hadn't been a pleasant encounter with the 'sun of his days' and a much unexpected revelation as well. He'd always thought Rory to be the kind of girl to wake up five minutes before the alarm went off. That was before she told him that to wake her mom sometimes you'd need eighteen alarms, and that she's not joking.

To find out so much about her in such a short time was a little overwhelming for Logan, but Rory was a talk-active person, she was never shy around him and didn't refrain from telling him her opinion on everything and anything that striked her fancy. She was a girl for Finn and he'd told her that, the funky Aussy and her would get along just peachy and she'd been dying to meet the drunk would-be comedian, but he's traveling around the globe, God knows where he might be at that moment. Surely nowhere near New York. Colin is somewhere in Europe, France or Italy, somewhere where the natives have weird accents when talking old plain English. And Steph, Steph was in Monaco, the girl made herself a famous designer, but even Logan had to admit that she had a talent for those things.

He sighed in his coffee for the tenth time that morning and looked over to the clock. Ten. He'd gotten up two hours earlier, had a shower, breakfast, checked his mail, turned his phone off, but not before leaving his father a message to stop bothering him about some stupid party his mother insisted upon, he wouldn't be driving to Hartford for just that; then he'd made a fresh pot of coffee and sat down to wait for Rory to appear on her balcony in shorts, a tank top and over-sized coffee-cup.

"Time to wake the Sleeping Beauty up," he muttered to himself before going to his bedroom and out on the balcony. Looking over the distance between the railings, he struck his arm out and grasped hers. Shorter then a meter, good. He'd done far more crazy things with the LDB, climbing balcony railings nine stories over the ground would be a piece of cake. But, he shuddered at that thought, waking Rory up might result in a bigger disaster then jumping dead drunk off a cliff with a defect parachute had been.

Logan took a deep breath and swung a leg over the railing, steadying himself, and trying not to squish his 'little brother' in the process, swung the other leg over too and sat there for a second. Regaining his wits, he got a good foothold between the bars of his railing and grasped onto Rory's with both hands. Feeling like a idiot for just standing there stretched like a circus-freak he made a step over the open air and got between the bars, one leg before the other. He sighed in relief; he'd not ended falling down and ending up six feet under, just because the girl he was somehow interested in slept too long. Swinging his legs over the railing he stretched out for a moment then went to her balcony doors.

Good old Rory, always leaving the doors wide open. He entered her bedroom and took a moment to realize that he was actually in her _bedroom_. She'd scream rape and kill him when he woke her up, he was sure of it.

Deciding that he still wanted to live, at least long enough to finish reading her article he'd started half an hour ago, he snuck through the open bedroom door and down the hall to her kitchen. She'd be a little more understanding if he woke her with a cup of fresh coffee. Making the coffee took him almost twenty minutes, who knew her kitchen would be so disorganized. He poured the thick black brew into an over-sized blue cup decorated with cows, all the while shaking his head at her silliness. Slowly walking to the bedroom, he took his sweet time, looking at the pictures adorning the hall walls, books everywhere where place free was. Her room wasn't much different, a large bookcase decorated the wall opposite to the door, her bed was leaning against the wall opposing the balcony, white draperies fluttered in the light wind from the open balcony doors, her small working desk/vanity table littered in papers, books, her laptop and make-up articles, a white cloth was draped over the small mirror.

It was cozy, inviting and simply Rory. He liked that, so much different from his apartment that screamed the fact of a single man living there; hers looked homey, if that was a word.

He laughed silently at himself and sat down on her bed, next to her slumbering form, huddled in her comforter, no wonder she always leaves the balcony doors open. He took a look at her alarm, it wasn't set, that lazy little sneak. If he hadn't come, he would've waited forever for her to get up. Cradling the cup in one hand, he gently squeezed her shoulder with the other and shook her softly.

"Ace, wakey, wakey. Com'on Sleeping Beauty your Prince is here to sweep you away. Rise and shine, Ace."

Eyes as blue as the sky opened slowly and peered at him from beneath black eyelashes, framed in chocolate tresses. Rory blinked a few times, adjusting her eyes to the light, before looking around, as if making sure that she really was in her own room. Reassured that, yes indeed she was safely tucked in her own bed, she rose, supporting herself on her elbows and looked skeptically at Logan, who was a sight for sore eyes, bathed in sunlight, chocolate eyes laughing at her, golden hair shining in the light, full lips stretched into a beautiful smile.

'What a way to wake up. Gods, he's gorgeous. It's a sin to look so perfect in the morning.'

Getting a grip on her straying thoughts, she sat up, stretching a bit and gathering her wits enough not to blush by just looking at his face and addressed him.

"Logan? What are you doing in my bedroom at," a quick glance at her alarm told her the time, "half past ten on a Sunday morning, with a cup of coffee, wearing your pajamas? I'm pretty sure you weren't here when I went to bed last night, or am I still dreaming? And how the hell did you come in anyway? I mean you have to ring the bell outside this building for me to press the little button that will open the door and permit you inside, you need a password for the elevator to take you past the fifth floor, and it's impossible to get into this apartment without opening three locks or setting the alarm off. And--"

A finger on the lips cut her off and Logan smiled to himself. She was way too cute.

"Well a good morning to you too, Ace. I did sleep well, thank you. I'm obviously here to wake you up, it's not good to sleep too much, ask Finn. The coffee is for you, freshly brewed, more is waiting in the kitchen, no need to thank me. And excuse me, but those are not my pajamas, I like to feel comfortable while I stay at home, not all of us use sweat-pants as bed-wear. I wasn't here when you went to bed, I wasn't even in my own apartment, and you're not dreaming, but nice knowing you dream of me. I know the tight security of this building, mine is the same, I don't think I broke any law, I certainly didn't break any locks, I climbed the balcony. Satisfied, Ace?"

Logan looked on amused as she slowly nodded her head, as if understanding what he was talking about. Then realization dawned on her and it seemed to hit her hard. Her face paled, blue eyes widened, and jaw hit the floor.

"Wait a second, rewind! You climbed the balcony?! Are you insane?! Do you have a death-wish?! Oh God, are you hurt?! Tell me what the hell you were thinking when you pulled that crazy stunt!"

He wanted to laugh at her hysterics and would have if he didn't see the tiny tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. He had worried her that was the last thing he wanted. His mood dropped and he shrugged his shoulders slightly meekly answering her demand.

"In Omnia Paratus?"

He watched as her face scrunched up in confusion and slowly darkened in anger. Uh-oh, she was pissed.

"In what?! What the hell are you taking about?!"

He had to somehow stop her or she'll flip out completely.

"Now Ace, don't freak out. You went to Yale, too. Think back, there was this secret society called the Life and Death Brigade, or LDB for short. I was part of the LDB, we pulled all sorts of crazy stunts, most or all of them really dangerous, I once almost didn't make it alive out of one such stunt. But that was my own fault. Anyway 'In Omnia Paratus' is the motto of LDB, the members always live by it."

Logan watched somehow nervous as she seemed to comprehend and accept his explanation. Her face softened once again and she sighed, grabbing the cup of coffee out of hands and gulping it down in one turn.

"I need more coffee. Then we'll talk about this crazy stuff you do. Just don't scare me like that again!"

He smiled slightly and followed her to the kitchen.

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

**AN: And that was chapter number two. I hope the wait was worth it and you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please leave a review and tell me what you think.**

**Love,**

**Jas**


	4. The Three Stooges

**Chap. 3: The Three Stooges**

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Logan was fidgeting. He was standing for almost half an hour by his window waiting for Rory to go out on her balcony. She was home; he could see her outline sitting by her desk in her bedroom. But she wasn't picking up her phone, nor was she going out and he had to talk to her. Sighing and deciding that if the mountain can't get to Mohammed, then Mohammed goes to the mountain, he threw his fourth mug of coffee into the sink and marched to his bedroom. He got out on the balcony and taking a good look at her, through her curtains called out, loudly.

"Hey, Gilmore! Get your pretty ass out here!"

He saw her head wipe up at the sound of his voice and was satisfied when she got up from her chair and made the two steps to her balcony door.

Maybe it hadn't been a good idea calling her out, he mused as he saw what she was wearing. The dark blue, low-rise jeans hugged her legs from hips to ankles, leaving nothing to imagination, her white button down shirt had enough buttons undone to show a decent amount of cleavage and yet conceal the most important parts, a silver necklace with a tiny tear-shaped diamond pendant was eye-catching, glistening in the sun, her hair was up in a high pony-tail, not a trace of make-up on her face, the black leather belt around her hips and the white, velvety ballerinas on her feet rounded the image of a naturally beautiful woman. She stole his breath away.

"What do you want, Logan? I'm working."

Her voice shook him out of his admiration and noticing the slight whine in it, he smirked and leaned against his railing.

"You haven't been answering your phone, Ace. I almost thought you died in there."

She huffed slightly and crossed her arms under her bosom. 'Gods woman, don't do that,' crossed through his mind at the sight and he strained to focus on her face and not her chest. If she noticed he could count the minutes he had to live.

"I'm working, if you know what that word means. My dead-line is almost there and my article just refuses to look good, no matter what I do. I shut my phone off, I can't risk disturbances, and at the moment you're a major one. So state your business and it better be good, or I'm going back to work. You've got one minute, talk fast, Huntzberger!"

He smirked at her and stood straight. She was so adorable sometimes.

"You hurt my feelings, Ace. Of course I know what work means, I do it, too. Occasionally. But now to state my business. I've been trying to reach you since this morning, but that apart, I want you to come over for dinner tonight."

Her brows scrunched in confusion and her hands found her hips. Goodness, she was driving him insane.

"Why?"

Logan sighed and run a hand through his hair before focusing on her again.

"Well it just so happens that my friends are in the city, or will be coming to the city, to be more accurate and they insist on meeting you. Now I could've just pulled the whole thing off, with the introduction done over the balcony, but Honor will be coming and she'd kill me if I did something like that."

Rory looked at him and almost smiled, noticing that he seemed nervous. She knew that it wasn't because he invited her over, she'd been to his place and he to hers often enough to feel comfortable, no it was because of his friends. She also guessed that it was more about what she would think of them, then what they would think of her. She had heard enough stories about his two best friends to know what she could be expecting, but him talking about them and her actually meeting them were two entirely different things. And of course there was the issue of his sister. They were very close and she imagined that Logan would want that both she and his sister approved of each other, being best friends and all.

"Sure, why not? I guess my work can wait till tomorrow; it's not every day that I get to meet your best friends and big sister for the first time. Oh, and Honor wouldn't have killed you for the balcony introduction, I would. Just tell me the time and a hint as of what to wear."

His face lit up with a large, beautiful smile and she was giddy knowing that she had put it there. Soon he put his wits together and tried to come up with the appropriate time. Finally he sighed and shrugged.

"Well, I guess you could come around six so we have enough time to get you ready for crazy Finn and stuck up Colin. Honor won't be much of a problem, I'm sure you two will like each other. And about what you should wear try not to be too formal, but not too casual either, if you get what I mean."

She smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I got. So I'll see you around six. Bye."

He barely managed to end his 'bye' when she again disappeared through her balcony doors.

* * *

At exact fifteen minutes after five, Rory came out of the shower and into her bedroom. Her body and hair were wrapped in two blue towels and she was still rubbing lotion into her arms as she rummaged through her underwear drawer and took out a pair of white lacy boy shorts and a matching bra. Taking a look at her balcony doors and making sure that the curtains were drawn, not to give Logan a free show, she let the towel around her body drop and put the underwear on. She looked at herself in the full-length mirror and went over to her desk.

Sitting down she took the cloth from her vanity mirror and freed her hair from the towel. First she run her fingers through it, working on some knots, and then took a brush and blow-dryer. After drying her hair, she went with the brush few more times through before she was satisfied.

She put on some deodorant and went to her dresser. It took her a few minutes to find the shirt and pants she wanted and a few more to get them on. A look in the mirror told her that she had made a good choice with the black dress pants and the black shirt with elbow length sleeves and a red imitation of a belt right below her bosom. The shirt wasn't too low cut and offered a choice for or against a necklace. Rory decided for a red satin choker with a plastic black rose hanging from in. Ditching her wrist-watch for a silver and red bracelet, she also put in the silver earring decorated with little red stones, that Logan had bought for her, out of blue when the were strolling through Manhattan one day. Sitting at her desk again, she put her hair in a lose braid that left her bangs and few shorter strands hanging in her face. Figuring that a little make-up would be good, she put on mascara and eye-liner, forgoing the eye-shadow and a bit of red lip-gloss on her lips, not too much, just a hint. Putting on a little more the usual of her favorite perfume, she walked over to the mirror and nodded, satisfied with her look. Fishing her black jacked and bag from the closet, she put on her high-heeled black boots and walked out of the bedroom.

She had insisted on contributing something for the dinner, and after consulting with Logan over the phone, they'd decided that she can make her potato salad, since that was her best dish and Logan assured her that the boys as well as Honor would love it, and a bottle of wine since they both knew that Logan didn't have that in his house.

A look at the watch on her phone told her that it was six minutes before six. She put her phone in her bag, slid on her jacket and grabbed the salad and the wine, closing and locking the door behind herself.

She exited the elevator and nodded to the door-man who wished a good evening as she walked through the entrance to her building. The walk to Logan's building consisted of barely twenty steps and soon she was buzzing his apartment.

* * *

While Rory was getting dressed for the evening, Logan was a head-less chicken running around his kitchen. For the tenth time that day he cursed himself for deciding to cook dinner instead of getting it delivered. He was a good cook and normally confident about his abilities, but the slight nervousness about the evening got to him and he was clumsy and kept dropping things or knocking things over.

At the very least the dinner was safe and ready, but his kitchen looked like a war-zone. After taking a quick shower and putting on black slacks and a white dress shirt he went to clean up the kitchen before Rory came and saw the disaster.

He was in the middle of wiping the counter when the buzzing of his door alerted him that it was almost six. Throwing the dish-rag in the dish-washer, (he'd later regret that), he wiped his hands on his pants and went to the door.

"Yes?"

"It's me."

It was Rory. Taking in a deep breath, he pushed the button that opened the door downstairs. Rory knew the password for the elevator so he wasn't worried.

He once again looked over the living room and the dinning room making sure everything was in order and breathed a sigh of relief when everything was spotless and ready for the guest.

He'd never understand why he was so nervous and hated the way it got to him, but he had to go through it. Rory was an important person in his life. Over the short few months they knew each other she'd become one of his best friends and that was saying something. Excluding Stephanie, whom Logan had known since he was three, he didn't have any female friends that he hadn't had something with. Well there were Rosemary and Juliet in college, but they hadn't been as close to him as Steph and now Rory. Colin and Finn were his best buddies, they knew everything about him and he knew everything about them. Sure, they were crazy and Colin was more then just a bit arrogant but they had always been there for him, through some of the toughest times in his life and he knew that they'll be there when he needs them again. Rory had found her way to his heart in a few months, so fast and unexpected that even today he still couldn't really grasp what happened.

At first there had been attraction, between the both of them, and he'd planned to make his move and have that beautiful, spunky woman. But then he got to know her and didn't even dare to see her as a conquest. He enjoyed spending time with her, he loved talking to her, she could light up his day with a smile. He'd never felt like that before. They'd become fast friends, and even if the attraction had only gotten stronger, his desire to have her in his bed were outweighed by his desire to know her, to really know her. Friendship seemed more important then anything else. Finn would laugh his head off, if he knew that little detail of their relationship and he was bound to find out.

His front door opened and Rory came in, a smile on her face, bearing her potato salad and a bottle of red wine. She looked stunning, he concluded as he took the things from her and she took her jacket off. Her outfit was perfect and so very sexy that it drove him almost insane.

"Hey, Ace. You look great."

Her smile was infectious.

"Thanks. You don't look too shabby yourself, Huntzberger. So when are they coming?"

He sighed as he hung her jacket up.

"Soon. Too soon."

* * *

At six fifteen the door had buzzed again, Honor was there. Logan had gone down to get her because of the elevator. Not a minute after he had gone out the door buzzed again and Rory had let Finn and Colin in and called Logan to wait for them. Then she'd gone in the living room and made herself a drink. Suddenly she felt nervous too, but that had more to do with Honor then the boys. Drinking the two gulps of scotch in one go, her nerves had calmed down a bit and she was half-way ready when she heard the door open and laughter of three men and the occasional giggle of a woman. Plastering her best smile in her face she'd gone out to greet them.

Colin and Finn were as crazy as Logan had made them out to be. Neither had tried to hide that they had checked her out and that they were obviously very satisfied with what they saw. She had a feeling that they would get along as Finn broke the tension with a low whistle and commented that she only had to dye her hair red and she would be a goddess. They'd all heartily laughed about it and she saw that Logan was relaxing when she parried every of Colin's questions and that the other man was obviously impressed with her intelligence and wit.

Honor was another story. She'd eyed Rory with the searching and skeptical look of a sister protective of her little brother and Rory was slightly lost and shy talking to her. The older blonde woman seemed nice, but one couldn't be too sure.

As the evening progressed, they were sitting in the living room, with drinks and 'getting to know each other better' as Finn had put it. With her second martini Honor had relaxed slightly as well and ceased the skeptical look she'd been giving Rory. The two women were conversing slightly, even if Rory felt like she's being interrogated. But she didn't say anything about it and kept being pleasant with Honor.

At ten after seven they'd gone to the dining room and Rory had helped Logan serve the dinner, despite his heavy protests.

The ice was totally broken when Finn turned to Logan and commented, "This salad is great, mate! Why didn't you ever make it before?"

Logan had smiled at his Australian friend and answered, "I didn't make it, Finn. It was Ace."

After that Finn had turned to Rory and with much appreciation said, "Beautiful, smart, funny and a great cook! Love, dye your hair red and I'll start planning the wedding! Just to warn you, I want at least twenty kids!"

After that everything seemed to go easily. Honor and Rory both had teased Logan about the main course, delicious lasagne that would make every diet prone person fall over and probably sue him for serving such a calories bomb. When Honor had seen how Rory ate without thinking about her bites and asked for more, she'd laughed and they'd started talking about how it was humanly possible for her to eat as much as she did and still stay so thin. They got along well.

Logan was happy.

The evening was perfect.

* * *

**AN: By far the longest chapter and I'm finally happy with it.**

**I'm so so so so so so so so sorry that I haven't updated in so long, but I had a huge writer's** **block and this chapter simply refused to come out like I wanted it. I kept writing and deleting and writing again. I don't know how many times I've rewritten a paragraph only to delete it again.**

**Well I hope it's worth the wait and that you'll review. Please review, pretty please, with a cherry on top.**

**Jas**


	5. Stars Hollow and the 'InLaws'

**Chap. 4: Stars Hollow and the 'In-Laws'**

* * *

Rory and Logan were sitting in his kitchen the next Monday morning and sipping coffee. Honor and the boys had stayed the weekend and the two stooges have more then just set Logan's apartment upside-down.

Finn got drunk Sunday evening, totally smashed up, and decided that no clothes were as good as any other. Colin, only half-way sober himself, not wanting to subject Honor, Rory or himself to a naked Finn had tried to stop him and that resulted in a drunk Finn tugging down his pants and drunk Colin desperately trying to hold them up.

Rory and Honor had laughed till they couldn't breathe anymore.

Logan was absent during the whole 'fun', having gone to the office early that morning and getting stuck with some failed report and the threat of the newspaper not coming out the next morning.

Rory had volunteered to entertain his guests and her and Honor had dragged two protesting boys shopping in Manhattan. That had lasted pretty much the whole day, with Logan occasionally calling her or Honor, making sure they were ok and alive. When the sun had gone down, Finn and Colin had dragged the two shopping-crazy, chatty girls back to Logan's apartment and decided to get smashed after a dinner of Chinese take-out.

When Logan returned late that night he was greeted with a half-naked Finn passed out and almost blocking the front-door, Colin asleep and snoring on the kitchen counter and Rory and Honor sitting on his bed, drinking wine and chatting like best friends.

He didn't know if he should laugh or cry. Deciding that it was too late and he too tired to think about it, he'd let Rory and Honor use his bed and fallen asleep on the couch, only to wake up and find Finn, half on top of him, half on the floor.

He swore to never let his friends alone in his apartment again. When he asked Rory and Honor why they hadn't tried to stop them from getting drunk, Rory had replied that she had too much fun watching them and Honor had said that she didn't want to ruin the mood. He seriously disliked them both at that moment.

Early Monday morning, Honor had splashed the two hung-over idiots with cold water and gotten them into her car, driving home to Hartford, promising bodily harm on Logan for loading the two on her. Rory had promised Logan to help clean-up, but they were too sleepy to do anything.

In the middle of their fourth cup of coffee Rory's cell had rung and she'd left the room only to return grumpier then she'd gone.

"Why can't Grandma just leave me alone?! Now I'm forced to drive to Hartford tomorrow just to attend some damn party!"

Logan had first just looked funny at her, before remembering the phone call from his mother the day prior and groaning, "The party's at your Grandparents'? I should have listened to what she was saying. I'm going, too. Mom was pretty adamant about it."

Rory let out a sigh and slumped in the chair opposite of him.

"Well, at least one person I know will be there, I doubt my Mom will let Grandma force her to come, she has good excuses..."

Their eyes met and they groaned, letting their heads fall on the table.

They loathed stupid society parties!

* * *

The next morning found Rory and Logan in the car on their way to Hartford. They had both gotten up before it was godly to do so, meaning before six a.m., making it four-thirty a.m., just because Rory had insisted Logan come with her to Stars Hollow and meet her family. He hadn't been willing, but couldn't resist her Bambi eyes.

"Just tell me why I'm driving to Stars Hollow with you again, I've forgotten," Logan nagged for the millionth time since they left New York, making Rory sigh in frustration and almost bang her head on the window next to her. "Just drive Logan, I'm begging you!"

The rest of the ride was uneventful, aside from Logan complaining and Rory forcing him to stop at every possible restaurant to get coffee and more often then not a bagel or at least some chocolate. When they finally arrived in Stars Hollow, it was around noon and they saw a man with a base-cap hammering away on the roof when they pulled up the drive-way to Rory's childhood home.

Rory was cheery when she exited the car and greeted the, in Logan's opinion, grumpy looking man. "Hey Luke, are doing that to annoy Mom, or because it has to be done?" The man on the roof stopped hammering and smiled slightly as he looked at Rory. "Hey Rory, it has to be done, needless what your mother says. She's inside by the way."

"Am not! I'm right here!" The female voice made Logan lift his head and he was greeted with the smile of a woman that could be Rory's twin. Oh, he should've stayed sitting in the car, he realized when the woman opened her mouth again.

"Fruit of my loins! Have finally decided to grace your poor lonely mother with your presence?! But this can't possibly be my daughter! No way, my daughter calls her mother every day, my daughter comes see her mother every weekend, this girl hasn't called me in three day and visited in two weeks! Two weeks! Oh I'm forgetting how my oldest daughter, my mini-me looks like!"

Logan was left speechless, looking at the scene, as Rory gave a sheepish 'hey Mom' to the older woman and returned her strangling hug. He looked up at the man on the roof and saw him shaking his head at the crazy woman.

"Hey Luke, cease that god-forsaken noise and come greet Rory!"

The grumpy man mumbled something under his breath, but put the hammer away and came down the ladder. Logan watched as he gave Rory an awkward hug and a light kiss on the cheek.

Then Rory remembered his existence again. "Logan, what are you doing standing there, come here!"

This was going to be a long day, he decided as he made his way to greet a woman who was grinning like the Cheshire cat and a grumpy man who shot him a glare. Oh, Ace was sooo meeting his parents after this!

* * *

**AN: And here's the next chapter, yahoo! Am I quick or am I quick? I know it's not that long, but the next one will be, I promise. Logan gets to greet Emily and Richard as Rory's date and Rory meet his parents. How will the two of them handle a scheming Shira and Emily and Richard's questions about the future? You'll know if you review! I promise not to let you wait longer then ten days for updates if you promise to review lots, okay?**

**Jas**


	6. Through Hell and back

**Chap. 5: Through Hell and back**

* * *

From the moment he entered the excessively decorated room, Logan had a nagging feeling that something terrible was going to happen, and that had nothing to do with the snickering woman behind him and her daughter who was trying to get her to calm down. Since their meeting earlier that day Rory's mother, Lorelai, had been making strange remarks and throwing strange looks at her daughter that only served to make Logan more confused. He wasn't sure who was crazier, the town or Rory's mother. He prayed it was the town.

The Gilmore's ball room was bustling with people and as much as he tried Logan couldn't concentrate long enough to make out anyone familiar. Lorelai didn't have the problem. He turned around when he felt a push on his back and Rory was suddenly hanging on his arm, grinning, with a equally grinning Lorelai announcing in hushed tones that Satan and Satania were approaching.

Before he could even process what the crazy woman could have possibly meant, Richard and Emily Gilmore were standing in front of them, and talking a mile a minute. He was feeling quite dumb when he felt Rory's elbow in his side and turned to her only to see motioning to her grandparents with her eyes and he figured that he had been asked a question when he met Emily Gilmore's questioning eyes.

Stammering out an apology he asked for her to repeat her question and got himself stuck in explaining just how it comes that he was escorting Rory. Suddenly he knew just why Lorelai referred to her parents as Satan and Satania. The greeting was quite awkward and he figured that Emily and Richard probably thought that he and Rory had a thing beyond friendship going. Not that he was opposed to anything concerning the word intimate and Rory Gilmore, but Rory never showed any indication that she might want something like that from him. Thus he was relieved when Richard and Emily moved on, after a rather nasty remark from Lorelai.

He was amazed that Emily kept a smile on her face after Lorelai's 'out-burst', his mother would have slapped him or Honor for such a thing. He guessed the age difference was a factor too, his mother was considerably younger, but a drama-queen as well. His revenge plan on Rory wasn't so appealing when he considered his parents and his smart and witty, though sometimes shy, Ace. Her mother and step-father were odd, but not poisonous snakes. He was dreading that meeting, but his parents were moving towards them...

"Logan, I'm so glad you came!" Exclaimed Shira Huntzberger as she moved near her son and the pretty brunette on his arm. She wondered who this unfortunate one-night-stand was. Her son was known to be the 'wham-bang-thank-you-ma'am' kind of guy, a different girl every night. He'd probably never settle down.

"Hello Mother, good evening Dad." Logan was formal and not only a little cold towards his parents, more on such gatherings then normal, but still.

"It's nice to see you, son. Now who's your charming companion?" His father sounded pleasing and like he was in a good mood and Logan relaxed a bit before introducing Rory.

"Mom, Dad, this is Rory Gilmore. Rory these are Shira and Mitchum, my parents."

Rory smiled and shook hands with his parents, pleasantly saying, "It's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Huntzberger."

Shira looked like she was over the moon, with that wide grin on her face. "Oh, you're Emily and Richard's granddaughter! They've told us a lot about you, dear! Our families are very good friends!"

Rory's smile was forced this time, "I hope they only told you good things."

Mitchum laughed and tapped her shoulder lightly, "Only the best, child, only the best! But we had no idea that you knew our son. How did that happen?"

Logan sighed and explained to his parents how he Rory met, how they became friends and a few other things him parents wanted to know. He made sure to let them know that he and Rory were only friends and nothing more. Then Shira addressed Rory again.

"I'm glad that you're going out again, dear. Your grandmother was quite worried when you shut yourself out of the society after the tragedy. Of course, it had been bad and nobody can imagine how you felt, but you can't possibly tackle such problems alone. But I'm glad you're alright now, my dear."

Logan looked confusedly at Rory as she only nodded mutely at his mother and averted her eyes to the floor.

"Ace?"

She didn't look at him as she spoke quietly, "It's nothing."

Logan looked at his mother, who as usual lacked tact and was ready to explain everything.

"You were already in New York at that time, Logan. It was four years ago. You surely remember when the DuGrey boy died."

Now Logan was even more confused. What does Tristan DuGrey have anything to do with what his mother was talking about, "Yes, of course I remember, but I don't think I understand, mother."

"Well, he died in that accident when his car flew off a cliff, four years ago. Rory was his fiancé. He'd proposed to her the night prior, we were there, at her graduation party. It was quite a tragedy."

Logan was left speechless. His Ace had been engaged? Why hadn't she told him anything?

He looked at her, just as she let go of his arm and fled through the door. Unsure of what to do, he took off after her...

* * *

**AN: And that was chapter 5. More drama is coming to this story. I hope you like how it's coming along. Please don't make me beg for reviews,**

**Jas**


	7. What Life isn't

**Chap. 6: What Life isn't**

* * *

Lorelai watched as her eldest daughter run out her grandparents' home, with her blond tag-along behind and wondered what could've set the usually calm girl off. A look around the room revealed nothing out of place, the guests were mingling, her parents played the perfect hosts, and even her husband was behaving himself and talking calmly to an elderly gentleman at the bar. The she spotted the still pale and thin figure of Patricia DuGrey and it dawned that maybe Rory had been speaking with her almost mother-in-law and that had brought back painful and unpleasant memories. Determined to find out what was wrong, without having to encounter her probably pretty much hysteric daughter, Lorelai put on her best society smile and walked over to the gray dressed, Patricia DuGrey.

Meanwhile Rory paced along the pool's edge and muttered something under her breath, holding her tears back and trying to calm down. Logan was standing a few feet away, watching her, not really knowing what to think, much less what to do. The only half-way reasonable thoughts that came to his mind were, a) she must be cold in that dress outside, b) she could slip and fall into the pool any moment and he wasn't sure if she could swim; and c) his mother was dead when he saw her the next time.

Sure, he wanted to know everything that was to know about Rory Gilmore, her past included, but he didn't want to find out about it from his MOTHER!

So Rory had been engaged, to Tristan DuGrey no less. He didn't know Tristan on a personal basis, they might have been introduced some time or the other, but Logan had a steady group of friends, the smaller and the wider circle both, and new-comers weren't welcomed, it was a rule. Plus the DuGrey boy had been too young to be with them. What he knew about Tristan, he knew from Colin, who knew everything about anybody from the society. Tristan had been standing out in high school, with would-be-Huntzberger stunts and other things, but had stopped in his third year, speculations had it that it was because Daddy had threatened to send him military school. He'd studied at Princeton, pretty much low-key and that was all, till the scandal four years ago when he'd been on a icy road and lost control of his car, falling off a cliff and dieing three hours after the emergency operation. He'd said that it was tragic, to lose his life so young, but nothing else, he had no idea that the girl he was pretty much crazy about now had been loved by that man in a moment in time.

His thoughts were interrupted when he realized that Rory was standing beside him and that she was starting to talk. Her voice was so small and soft that he had to strain himself to hear her.

"Four years ago my life lay in crumbles all around me and I was sure that I wouldn't be able to walk away unscratched from that... Everything that I had dreamt of, worked so hard to achieve was suddenly very far away, in a place I couldn't reach it anymore. In less then twenty four hours my life had changed twice. The first change had brought me a step closer to the fulfillment of my dreams; the second had taken them away...

Tristan had been my life, my everything for six years and then he was gone, just like that, gone forever.

I had met him in my first year at Chilton, and I hated him. He represented everything that my mother had run away from and raised me to loath. To top it all off, he made my life miserable and he didn't seem like he could remember my name, he called me Mary, as in Virgin Mary, my Mum and I dubbed him Bible Boy for that.

But things seem to get better when he finally got it that I wouldn't be dating him anytime soon and he backed off, finding himself a girlfriend, Summer something. And that would be the beginning of it all.

At that time I had a boyfriend, my first. His name was Dean, the typical boy next-door, the perfect first boyfriend. Soon after Tristan had given up on me, Dean and I were celebrating our three month anniversary. It should be our last. He told me he loved me that night and I couldn't say it back, he broke up with me.

I tend to run away from thing, and to run away from my pain I went to Madeline's party the next night. Tristan got dumped by his girlfriend in front of a bunch of the kids from school and somehow we shared our first kiss.

Our relationship grew from there. Slowly I fell more deeply from him and by the time we were graduating I knew that I loved him. I went to Yale and he to Princeton, I studied journalism and he law. We were good, we were more them good, we were great, our love grew and grew, till we graduated from college and at the party my grandparents gave for me, he popped the question and I said yes. That was the last time, I've seen him alive. He died the next morning.

Six years disappeared just like that and I was standing at the beginning again, all alone and helpless.

Out of a wish of come away, to forget, I got the job in New York and just moved, not looking back..."

Somewhere along the way, her tears had started to fall and Logan gathered her in him arms. She clutched him tightly crying bitterly in his chest and for the first time in his life Logan Huntzberger new what it meant to feel truly and totally helpless.

* * *

Confused and not an ounce smarter, Lorelai waved goodbye to the older woman and made her way to her husband. She still had no idea what had worked Rory so much up. Patricia had said that she hadn't even seen Rory, not to mention talked to her. It had to be something else, but as far as Lorelai knew only the mention of Tristan was able to do that damage to her.

Sitting next to Luke, Lorelai downed the rest of his scotch and set on brooding, while listening to Luke rave on about Liz who had taken their three kids for the evening.

Lorelai was worried, but something told her to leave Rory to Logan, she knew she won't be able to do much.

Rory was grown up and it hurt.

* * *

They stumbled to the pool-house bedroom, fingers roaming over each other's bodies. Logan fumbled with the lock and pushed the door with sudden aggressiveness. Rory chuckled and pressed her lips against his, her kiss became needier with each passing seconds. With a kick of the heel, Rory closed the door behind her and pushed the Huntzberger down onto the large bed.

The mattresses compressed under their weight and a light creaking of the metal spring was heard. Her hands lifted up the hem of his shirt and pulled it off of him, revealing an extremely well toned torso. The heat on his body was too irresistible, she held him closer, hoping to transfer some of that warmth to her as well. With a squeal, Rory found herself being flipped over, she settled herself comfortably beneath the man. His face inches from her and she opted to pull it down for another hot kiss.

"Undress me," she panted, urgency laced in her voice.

His fingers grasped onto the sheet to establish a moment of control over himself. Logan stopped moving and Rory looked up to the handsome man above her with confusion.

"I can't," he muttered.

Her eyes narrowed, anger seethed through brilliant blue orbs, "I'm asking you to bed me and you refuse?"

Logan sighed and slowly removed himself from her. He lay still next to her and turned to look at her profile in the dark. The window allowed small rays of the moon to enter, highlighting her beautiful curves.

"I do not have lovers, I have sex partners," he said simply.

She laughed, light clear sounds resonating in his ears, "I'm not asking you to be my lover I'm asking you to have sex with me,"

She abruptly sat up; her fingers unbuttoned the red dress and opened it, revealing her perfect breasts. She was offering him everything; all she asked for return was a night of mindless sex and no inhibitions. Logan began to sit up from her bed, his hands reached out to her and she smirked, because she knew he too had urges.

Much to Rory's surprise however, he slowly began to button her dress again. The small action of affection rendered her speechless and she could feel the inadvertent touches against her bare skin. They sat there in silence and she watched as his fingers lingered over the last button. Without a word, he pulled her closer; his strong arms wound around her waist and held her. She didn't know what to do and her arms stayed limply at her sides. Rory could feel his head burying deep at the nook of her neck

"I'm sorry Ace, not you, anybody else but not you," Logan answered

His words lingered in the air and she stayed silent.

"Oh dear God, what am I doing?"

No longer had the words left her lips that she began to regret how disgusted she sounded. But Logan didn't seem to mind as he clung to her harder.

"Don't worry, Ace. I'm still here, I won't leave you," he whispered.

"Can we stay this way?"

"Hm?"

"I want to stay this way for a little longer,"

Rory enjoyed their chaste intimacy and began to regret her earlier actions… it must have been the alcohol.

* * *

**AN: And that was chapter 6, Ladies and Gentlemen. The long over-due sexual tension has hopefully risen and I can't wait to see what you think. Please review, pretty please, with a cherry on top.**

**Jas**


	8. Back to Reality

**Chap. 7: Back to Reality**

* * *

****Time tends to fly by when you're too busy to notice and before Rory got her bearings completely it had been two weeks since the disastrous party at her grandparents' and the confession of her life story to Logan. It might have made her feel more secure about their friendship, if she hadn't thrown herself at him like a slut five minutes after spilling her guts to him.

Things had gotten awkward between them after that. Logan had been the perfect gentleman and exactly what she'd needed at that moment, but that didn't stop her from being ashamed of herself the following morning. The ride back to New York had been mostly silent and a tad uncomfortable, Logan looked her with a certain glint in his eyes she couldn't exactly place and all she could think about was the way his lips felt against hers. The need to escape was so strong in her that she couldn't fight it and she'd buried herself in her work as soon as they'd gotten back and avoided all contact with him for nearly three days. But that was all the space Logan had decided to give her, because just as she thought she could get over what had happened and function normally again, he was standing at her door. Apparently, the guard at the front desk had gotten used to seeing him walk in that he'd let him pass without buzzing her.

She'd reluctantly let him in and they'd sat in her kitchen for an hour sipping coffee and awkwardly making small talk before Logan snapped. He jumped up from his chair and slammed his palms against the table so hard that it had made her jump. Confident that he had her complete attention he started to rant.

″Let me make myself clear, Ace,″ he said. ″You're my friend, one of my **best** friends and I don't know what the heck your problem is, but I'm not letting you ruin our friendship just because you got emotional and lost control a little. Believe me, it's happened to me more times than I can count, and if I'd let it affect my friendships with all the people it happened around, I would be utterly alone. So whatever it is, snap out of it and be my Ace again, for Christ's sake.″

She'd stared at him for a few minutes unsure what to do or tell him, before finally settling for, ″I just can't get over what I did so easily, Logan.″

″Bullshit!″ surprising her, because he wasn't one for profanities. ″We kissed, so what?″

″I threw myself at you like a wanton whore! I practically begged you to sleep with me!″ she yelled, frustrated with his making light of a serious situation.

″Don't talk about yourself like that!″ Logan had snapped. ″And for your information we didn't sleep together, if that somehow escaped you. You needed comfort and you sought it in the only way you knew how. I get that. Hell I've slept with Steph a few times because one of us had needed that kind of comfort and it never affected anything between us. She's still one of my closest friends and always will be. The first time it happened, sure it was awkward afterwards and we both had a hard time looking each other in the eye, but we talked about it. We saw it as what it was a need to feel close to someone in a moment of emotional weakness. And that's what happened between us. There's no need to be ashamed of yourself, Rory. I don't look at you any other way than I did before that night. In fact, I feel like we've gotten closer and I'm not letting you destroy that.″

Since then they'd been slowly repairing their friendship and getting it back on track. That was easier said than done, for Rory. While Logan seemed to have no problems picking right off where they stopped, she had a hard time concentrating on anything but his lips when they were together. The memory of them haunted her in her dreams and in her waking moments alike. The feel of his arms around her still left her breathless and her body yearning for more. More Logan, more everything. How the hell was she supposed to act like nothing had happened when her formerly slow simmering attraction to Logan had turned into an all consuming fire? And why the hell didn't he have the same problems? Life was unfair...

And now she was supposed to meet him and Honour for lunch in the city. Apparently the infamous Steph was back in the States and wanted to get to know Rory, or as Honour had phrased it on the phone, 'the girl who snared Logan's attention so thoroughly'.

The worst thing was that she didn't know if she could like Steph. She was aware that passing judgment on people she didn't know was very wrong, but the sole thought that the other girl had slept with Logan on more than one occasion was more than enough to get Rory growling. Great. She was jealous of her friend's friend. Go figure.

With a great sigh she pushed from her vanity where she'd been drying her hair for the better part of forty minutes and walked to her closet. If she was going to do this, than she was damn well looking her best while at it.

After a bit of digging she found her favorite white, belted, sleeveless playsuit and put it on before taking a brush to her hair again, getting it perfectly straight and falling over her shoulders. The only make-up she used was mascara to make her eye-lashes seem endlessly long, black eye-liner to accent her blue eyes and a bit of her favorite pink lips gloss. Taking her time to dig out her pink rose bud earrings, she risked a look at her alarm and swore she only had five more minutes before she had to go. Hastily putting in her earrings she reached into her drawer and pulled out the velvet case that housed the ridiculously expensive pink gold wrist watch her grandparents had given her after she graduated Yale and put it on her wrist. Pulling her pink blazer from the closet, she ran to the door and almost fell over her high-heeled strappy pink wedges, trying to run and put them on at the same time. With the strap of her white leather tote firmly between her teeth, she locked the door and ran to the elevator. Logan would kill her if she turned up late for this.

Ten minutes later she exited her hastily hired cab and looked at the restaurant Honour had chosen. It was one of the more upscale places; she'd visited a few times, with her grandparents when they came up every blue moon and with Logan on a couple occasions. It was nice and fairly private with comfortable booths, but above all the food was delicious. Taking a moment to straighten her blazer and tug and the shorts of her playsuit a bit, she glanced at her watch and saw that she was exactly on time. With a small smile, she walked into the restaurant.

The red-haired hostess smiled as she greeted her. ″Good afternoon, Miss. Do you have a reservation?″

Rory returned her smile and shook her head. ″I'm supposed to meet someone here.″

″Of course,″ the hostess nodded. ″Which name? ″

″Huntzberger.″

The hostess' smile got wider and Rory only assumed that Logan had already arrived. That was usually the expression women wore after they'd seen him.

″Yes, of course,″ the young woman agreed. ″They are already at the table. I will escort you, Miss.″ She took a menu from the table in front of her and motioned for Rory to follow her.

Keeping step with the hostess, Rory looked around the restaurant. It was only half full, the majority of the lunch crowd having already left for work again. Which was a good thing, considering that the last time she and Logan had been here for lunch, at least ten different women have approached their table. Secretaries and business women alike whom Logan had dated at some point or another. At that time Rory had laughed at his expanse, he barely remembered half their faces, not to mention their names. Now though, with Stephanie at the table, she didn't think she could handle his admirers as well.

The slowing steps of the hostess caught her attention and she looked forward, seeing three blond heads peeking behind a booth. The hostess stopped by the booth and smiled at Rory. ″Here we are, Miss.″

That caught Logan's attention and he looked up before smiling wildly and standing up. ″Hey, Ace! Right on time! Come on, sit down.″ He moved out of the booth and allowed Rory to take his seat beside Honour while he slid in next to her.

Rory smiled at the hostess who handed her a menu before walking away. When she was adjusted in her seat she turned to Honour and grinned at the older Huntzberger.

″Hey, girl,″ Honour greeted amiably and kissed both of Rory's cheeks; Rory returned the gesture and turned to the other girl at the table.

Stephanie was a stunningly beautiful girl with long, golden curls and warm hazel eyes. Her grin was bright and inviting as she held her small, thin hand for Rory. ″Nice to meet you, I'm Steph.″

The brunette took her hand and shook firmly a polite smile in place. ″I'm Rory. Nice to meet you too. I heard a lot about you,″ she added just for Logan's benefit. The blond smiled charmingly and giggled a little.

″I hope only good,″ she said with a wink in Logan's direction before turning to Rory again. ″I heard a lot about you too, and before you ask, just the best, of course.″

This time Rory's smile was genuine and she relaxed a little. ″Well, then I'm glad, and don't worry, Logan is full of compliments about you, too.″ that was the truth, too and she could see Logan smile from the corner of her eye.

A few minutes later a waitress came to take their orders ad conversation flowed easily, it was as if they'd all known each other for years. When their food came, Steph launched into a hilarious story of Logan's playboy college days that had the lone male sputtering and blushing something fierce, while Rory and Honour leaned against each other in an attempt not to fall over from laughing. By the time desert was brought, Rory decided that while maybe she hadn't **wanted** to like Stephanie, the other girl was simply impossible to **dislike**.

On their way out the restaurant, Steph grabbed Rory and Honour and dragged them to the ladies' room while Logan waited outside. Once inside she made her way to the large mirrors covering one entire wall of the rather large room and fished her lip gloss out of her bag. She smiled as the other two girls copied her and gave Rory a little nudge with her hip.

″I have to say, Rory that I haven't seen Logan like this in a while and only now I realize that I missed it.″

″Right,″ Honour agreed instantly, nodding in Steph's direction, but Rory had no idea what they were talking about.

″I'm afraid I'm not following,″ she told them honestly and Honour noticed that she was truly clueless, as did Steph with a glance at Rory's face.

″Well, it's been a while since he's been serious about a girl, and since Logan is at his best when he's _not_ chasing after everything in a skirt, I'm glad that you're here with him.″

Rory looked aghast for a moment and was about to say something, when Honour interrupted her. ″Oh no, Steph. Those two are stubborn mules, one worse than the other. You should see just how vehemently they deny that there might be something other than friendship between them. It would be ridiculous if it wasn't so sad.″

Steph liked at the older blond like she's suddenly sprouted two more heads before turning her incredulous gaze to Rory. ″You mean, you two **aren't** together?″ she squeaked disbelievingly and Rory cringed a little before shaking her head. ″Huh,″ Steph breathed out. ″Could have fooled me. I mean the way he was talking about you had me convinced that he was head over heels in love with you and when I teased him the other day saying how the mighty have fallen, he didn't deny anything he just laughed and said 'if only you knew'. I honestly thought you guys were a couple.″

″Not in this lifetime if they stay this stubborn,″ Honour commented a little bitterly and that left Rory wondering about what Logan talked to with his sister. ″After my last visit I expected them to be all over each other by now that I would have to force them out of the bed to spend any time with them, but no, nothing.″

Rory was left speechless and Steph pouted a little. ″Well that sucks. Now I have nothing to tease him about. But I'm surprised that Logan hasn't made a move yet.″

Honour tugged a brush through her hair and shook her head sadly, ″Nope. Nada.″

Steph sighed and returned her perfume to her clutch as she watched Rory flip her hair over she shoulders. ″Yeah, I guess he would have told you by now. Hell he would have told me by now.″

The she and Honour both let long suffering sighs and moaned, ″Gosh, he's hopeless.″

Rory was left wondering just what the hell she'd missed.

* * *

That evening, back in her apartment and confused as hell, Rory made herself comfortable in a pair of yoga pants and t-shirt before she grabbed her phone and called her mother. Three rings later Lorelai picked up.

″_Fruit of my loins, you're alive!″_

Rory sighed and rolled her eyes in affectionate exasperation. ″Mom, honestly. This routine again?″

Lorelai huffed quietly on the other line. _″Well, we had a deal. You call me every day and I stop calling you that. But it's been __**three**__ days since you last called, so it's your own fault. You seem to have forgotten your poor, lonely mother over there in big New York with your new boy-toy.″_

″Do I even want to know who you're talking about now?″ Rory laughed a little.

″_Well, obviously I'm talking about that sexy blonde that goes by the name of Logan, of course! Who else would I be talking about? Or is there someone you haven't told me about?″_ Lorelai retorted, very much in the mood to annoy her daughter.

Her daughter groaned and made herself more comfortable on her bed. ″Of course there isn't anyone else, as if I have the time to meet guys every other week. And for the n-th time, Mom, Logan is **not** my boy-toy! Geeze!″

″_Not? Well that's disappointing. And here I was hoping that you would tell me if the rumors about his bedroom performances that fly around in Hartford are actually true. This sucks. Why haven't you snagged him yet?″_ the older Gilmore sounded truly disappointed, just as Steph had earlier that day in the restaurant bathroom. What is it with those people and thinking that she and Logan were sleeping together? Then something else Lorelai said, caught Rory's attention.

″Mom are you seriously asking me to confirm rumors about Logan's sex-life? Honestly?″

″_Hey, in my defense I heard about seven different girls discuss him and his prowess at your grandmother's party two weeks ago. They all assumed the same, that you were sleeping with him and I got curious about the whole 'lucky bitch' talk,″ _Lorelai explained with a little whine.

Rory sighed and rubbed her forehead. This was too much. ″Well sorry to disappoint you, but I did not sleep with Logan, ever. And if I ever did, I wouldn't be confirming nor denying any rumors flying around Hartford. And that's all I'm going to say about this topic before I change it,″ she spat resolutely, sick and tired of people meddling in her non-existent love life. Like the call she'd gotten from Emily Gilmore yesterday hadn't been enough. Her grandmother had gushed about happy she was that Rory finally found herself such a fine young man and what a charming couple they made and how she had to call Shira and make arrangements for dinner for about half an hour before Rory had cut her off and less than politely explained that she and Logan were friends **only** and that there was no reason to have dinner with Shira or any other Huntzberger for that matter.

″_Okay, okay,″_ Lorelai relented. _″I was only saying. But sexy blondes aside, what else is new, Hun?″_

* * *

Frustrated and on the verge of breaking something Logan let himself in his apartment and leaned back against the door. After their enjoyable lunch, Steph had refused to let him return to the office and dragged him through New York in pursuit of the perfect pair of shoes. Not that he minded going shopping with her, he'd done it often enough times with her and Honour to be alright with it. What irked him was the Spanish Inquisition she'd put him through as soon as they were in the cab.

And it wasn't the line of questioning he'd expected, either. Steph had demanded to know why he still **wasn't** sleeping with Rory. And she'd not stopped asking that and related questions all day long. Logan was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to drink himself into a stupor and forget that the day ever happened. Why did all the women in his life (mother, Honour, Steph) keep asking him the same thing?

His mother had called two days ago to inquire why he hasn't informed her of his liaison with the Gilmore granddaughter, and did he know how not knowing such things about her son made her look in front of Emily Gilmore and Francine Hayden? Then she'd started ranting about how he was irresponsible and that he should have informed her the moment he started courting the young Gilmore so that she could get together with Emily and plan the wedding. Okay, so she hadn't said it in so many words, but it all came out to be the same. The moment he and Rory got together – if ever – his mother and her grandmother would start picking china patterns.

After he'd patiently explained to her that he wasn't **courting** Rory – who the hell says courting in this day and age? – and that they were strictly friends, she'd let out a disappointed little sigh, and asked demurely, ″So, I don't get to brag about my new almost daughter-in-law?″

He'd answered sharply that no, she did not in fact get to brag to her little friends and then he's unceremoniously hung up on her.

Almost daughter-in-law. Ha! What a fucking joke! That girl freaked about a kiss, well okay making out was more like it, but still. The idea of a relationship with him must terrify her...

The first girl he liked in years and she didn't want anything but friendship from him.

His life was a huge cosmic joke.

* * *

**AN: I actually updated! I'm as shocked as everyone else, since it has been 4 yours since the last update. I'm ashamed, too.**

**Anyway this chapter is only here because a loyal fan of the story got me going again. So thank you very much **_**xshynenstarx**_**, for getting me to write again and for becoming a much needed beta for this story. This chapter is dedicated you.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this new chapter and drop me a few lines.**

**Jas**


	9. The Turning Point

**Chap. 8: The Turning Point**

* * *

**AN: Another update, yay! Everything in _Italics_ is the flashback, so you're not confused. There's not much happening here, since it's more of a filler chapter than anything, but be warned that as of this chapter, this story is now M rated, read to find out why :)**

* * *

"I thought we could stay in and do movies and junk food. No sense in going out every other night if you ask me," Rory said to Logan as they planned their evening over the phone.

"_Sure,"_ replied the blonde. _"I'll stop at Blockbuster for a few movies on my way from the office and you can take care of the food. I'd rather not have a repeat of last time."_

Rory laughed as she remembered their Movie Night few weeks ago. She'd been holed up in office all day working on a deadline and had asked Logan to get the food prepared. He'd forgotten what food for Movie Night involved and had only gotten pizza and some chips. Needless to say that Rory had made him run to the next supermarket and buy every sweet and salty thing he could get his hands on. He'd missed the first half of the only movie he really wanted to see as consequence.

"Deal," she said laughingly. ″And Logan, if you plan on getting revenge by picking movies I hate – **don't**. The only one suffering would be you," she warned and heard him sigh over the line.

"_I know, I know,"_ he moaned. _"I promise no funny business with the movies."_

″Thank you.″

"_Yeah well, not much I can do about it, since you reserved the rights of withholding sex as punishment,"_ he pouted and she smiled.

"You're the one who's holding coffee over my head. I think you might have gotten the better deal since I'm a junkie and you have exclusive permission to deprave me of my drug of choice," Rory fired back and **heard** him smirk.

"_What can I say? I'm a cunning man, my dear." _

She snorted lightly. "Cunning my ass, pardon the language. So what are you doing, since you're obviously not working?"

"_Very funny Miss 'I go to the office only when my deadline approaches'. Some people actually have to turn up at the job every day. And I'm taking a break if you must know,"_ he retorted laughingly and she giggled.

"Well than I guess I have the better job. And? How many breaks did you take today? Three? Five?" she teased.

He cleared his throat a bit uncomfortably and she was intrigued. _"Eight, actually,"_ came the small reply.

"Logan!" she scolded. "You still have three hours left. What's wrong with you today?"

"_Mitchum, if you must know,"_ he answered immediately and she felt bad. Logan was always worse for wear when he had an encounter with his father. She only hoped he wasn't drinking yet.

"What happened, baby?" she asked gently and heard him sigh over the line, the sound long and painful, it tugged at her heartstrings.

"_The usual. He came in just as I was going out for lunch. That was my first break today, but of course he didn't know that and just assumed that I wasn't doing my job. He started to rant about how ungrateful I was and how I should work my ass off to show my appreciation if nothing else and that I had everything to me handed on a silver platter where other people had to fight and work for everything and basically that I am an disappointment and huge failure and that he could go out on the street and find ten people who would be grateful to have my job and do it better than I,"_ another sigh, this time slightly hitched. _"So let's just say that I'm not really in the mood to work today."_

Rory's chest constricted and she felt tears stinging her eyes. She was well aware of Logan's problems with his father and once he'd actually told of some of the worse encounters with Mitchum Huntzberger in bitch mode. How a man could treat his own son that way was beyond Rory. Parents were supposed to love and support their children unconditionally. Her mom had issues with her parents, and Emily often times had nothing nice to say to Lorelai, but she was never deliberately hurtful and if Lorelai ever needed anything both Richard and Emily were there, ready to help. It was unfathomable to Rory that a man actually set out to hurt his child. Or maybe Mitchum was so callous that he actually thought whatever he said didn't have any impact on Logan. If only he knew.

"I'm so sorry baby," she said quietly, well aware that Logan had called her out of need to for comfort more than anything else and she knew just how to provide it. "Is Mitchum still there?"

"_No,"_ she heard the confusion in his voice. _"Why?"_

"Then pack up for today and come home," Rory smiled, imagining the look on his face. "We can spend some _quality time_ together," she rasped and heard him gulp. Screw Movie night, they had infinite time to spend watching movies; her boyfriend needed the comfort only she could give him and for now that was the most important thing.

"_Be there in half an hour,"_ he choked out and the line went silent as he fought to control his suddenly raging libido. _"Your place or mine?"_ he asked once he'd regained some sort of composure.

"Mine."

"'_K."_

He hung up and Rory tossed the phone away, very much aware that she'd invited her boyfriend over to have sex during his work hours. She wasn't exactly sure where she got the courage to do that, but it felt good to be open with Logan. That was one thing she could always count on with him. Logan expected her to always just tell him her mind. Pretenses didn't work with the blonde. He'd grown up in the Hartford socialite world where people were anything but their true selves and he loathed it. Honesty was the key he'd told her. The truth was always the best no matter how brutal it was or how much it hurt. And Logan was always honest, ruthlessly so. It was one of the things she loved most about him…

Loved… When she thought about it, there were many things she **loved** about Logan. His honesty was a given, his charm, intelligence, his wit, the way he could make her smile when she felt miserable, even his arrogance to an extent, it just seemed to add to his charm. Then there was the way he made her feel, like she could tell him anything and everything, like she could trust his implicitly, like he would keep her safe no matter what. His kiss and touch were another matter completely. She didn't just love those, she craved them, needed them, he was her drug and she was hopelessly addicted to him. What a mess. To think she was steadfastly hurtling into falling in love with her best friend.

Logan didn't do love. But then again, Logan didn't do commitment and monogamy either, but for her he compromised… That was too weak a word. For her he threw his principles out the window. If having her meant a relationship, then he'd do a relationship, he'd said.

A wistful smile crossed her face as she remembered how all of this had started. Two weeks after she'd met Steph, he'd called, in the middle of the night no less, with an invitation to dinner. That had been some conversation.

- **FLASHBACK** -

_Rory groaned and rolled over as an incessant buzzing sound slowly pulled her from the delicious dream she'd been having. Mmmm, __**coffee**__… And Logan… An unbeatable combination. Scowling slightly as the buzzing persisted, she assumed it was her phone alarm and sighed. Why did she have to get up already? A quick glance at clock on her bedside table revealed that it was 1:03 am and Rory was stumped. Either her clock was dead or Logan had messed with her alarm again. Pulling her cell from beneath her pillow shoved that neither was the case. It really was 1 in the morning and it wasn't her alarm that had woken her but a call. A call from the subject of her dreams no less._

"_Hello?" she croaked into the receiver and was rewarded with a low laugh from the other line._

"Hey, Ace,"_ came his smooth voice. _"Did I wake you?"

"_Yeah," no sense lying, it was after midnight and she'd been asleep since at least 10 pm. "What's up?"_

"Sorry about that, I just got in and wanted to see if you had plans for tomorrow night?"

"'_S okay. No, no plans. Why?" she managed to get out, still half asleep._

"How about we do dinner and dancing? Steph found a new restaurant when she was last here and was raving about it the whole time when she called today,"_ he laughed again and she shivered in pleasure._

"_Hmmm, sounds great. I wanted to see Steph again."_

_And there went that laugh one more time. God, was he trying to kill her? _"You misunderstood, Ace. Steph's not here. It'd be just you and me."

"_Oh. Okay great. When?"_

"I made a reservation for seven-thirty, it's at least a 20 minute drive, so how about 6:45?" _Logan asked and yawned and she had to stifle one herself. Yawning really was contagious._

"_Sounds good."_

"Great, I'll pick you up. Wear a dress, they have a code apparently," _he advised cheerfully. _"Now go back to sleep and I'll see you tomorrow. Night, Ace. Sweet dreams."

"_Okay. Night, Logan. Sleep tight."_

_The moment she heard the click as he hung up, Rory was asleep again, cell phone forgotten in hand._

* * *

_Rory practically fell through the door in her haste, kicking her flats off and rounding the corner to her bedroom. She'd stayed in the office longer than anticipated, completely lost in an article she'd been writing and had completely forgotten the time. By the time she'd thought about looking at her watch, it was already 5:15. She'd packed up and rushed out of the office as fast as she could and had luck in flagging down a taxi immediately. She didn't have so much luck with traffic and by the time she reached home it was already 5:50. Logan was picking her up in less than an hour._

_Running late was a new trend with her when it came to Logan lately, it seems. Almost tearing her white button down from her shoulders she stumbled over a discarded pair of jeans on the floor and almost plastered her face all over the carpet. Luckily she could grab the bed and remain standing. Taking a minute to compose herself and calm her suddenly racing heart, Rory straightened and looked at her hands only to frown and moan in frustration. Her previously immaculate manicure was not so immaculate anymore. It seems that tearing her shirt off had resulted in more than only a fallen off button. Her right thumb nail was halved. The torn off half was still hanging to the rest. Growling in anger she snapped it completely off and hoped that filing the rough edges would not result in chipped off paint later. Deciding to worry about that when she was clean she stripped off her pants and trudged to the bathroom, at a normal pace this time. No sense in injuring herself, better a few minutes late than completely incapacitated after all._

_She showered in record time, fifteen minutes exactly and hurried out of the bathroom, already facing a new dilemma. She had no idea what to wear. He'd said a dress, but she had thousands of those. Years of attending Friday night dinners and parties at her Grandparents' made sure of that. He could have provided more detail. Knowing that being angry at Logan was not going to solve anything; she sighed in resignation and grabbed her phone. Typical ignorant male._

_She pressed speed-dial one and put the phone to her ear. After three rings a gruff male voice answered. _"Gilmore-Danes."

_Frowning slightly, Rory pulled the phone to her face. No, she'd definitely dialed her Mom's cell. Oh well. "Hey, Luke. Why do you have Mom's phone?"_

"Hey, kid. She put it in my pocket, don't ask why. Wait just a second, I'll get her,"_ Luke responded, sounding slightly frustrated with her Mom. _

"_Okay, thanks." He only grunted and a second later she heard his voice calling Lorelai and her mother's voice saying something about there being no need to shout. She really didn't want to know what was going on in her childhood home now. Sometimes it was just better being left in the dark._

"What's up, kiddo?"_ chirped Lorelai and Rory smiled._

"_Need fashion advice," she started immediately knowing that allowing her mother to get her off the topic for even a second would only result in losing time she definitely did not have._

"Oooh. What are you dressing up for?"_ luckily Lorelai was more interested in a chance to meddle in Rory's life whichever way she could than talking about the usual nonsense going on in the mental institution they called their hometown._

"_Dinner with Logan. He only said to wear a dress and didn't bother elaborating. Now I'm kind of stumped on what to choose," Rory explained quickly and prepared to ward off any unwanted question about her nonexistent love-life. _

"Did he say what kind of restaurant he's taking you to?"_ Lorelai asked, focusing on the problem at hand, for once._

"_Nope. But he did say we'll also go dancing. I'm just assuming that it won't be in the same establishment, but you never know with Logan, especially if Steph was the one recommending the place."_

_Lorelai hummed and was silent for a moment. _"I see why you're having problems. Well, luckily there are a few things you can never go wrong with small black, small red or anything that hugs your figure and is at least semi-formal."

_Taking in her mother's words Rory walked over to her closet and flung open the doors, she had a dress in mind. "How about the one we bought the last time you came up? I didn't get a chance to wear it yet."_

"A little help here, kiddo. Are you talking about the small black and cream number with the thin straps?"

_Rory grinned. "Exactly."_

_Lorelai cackled excitedly on the other line. _"Perfect. That dress is so short and tight and low cut it will the poor boy heart palpitations, but it still looks classy with the lace and satin."

"_That's it then. Thanks Mom."_

"No problem. Go get ready, but I want all the details, after,"_ Lorelai ordered and Rory sighed, she'd been hoping to avoid that._

"_Sure, but I have to hurry now."_

"Yeah, yeah, bye."_ The line went silent and Rory tossed the phone on the bed before digging the dress out. It still had the tag attached to the back. Shaking her head at her own silliness, she grabbed the scissors from her bedside table and snipped the tag off before tugging the dress on. Now she knew again why she'd bought that dress. It hugged each and every of her curves perfectly and accented them in exactly the right fashion. Her waist looked smaller, her bust and hips bigger and her legs were suddenly miles long. The material came to about three inches above her knees, molding itself to her skin just the way she wanted it. Happy with her choice, she dug a pair of only once worn heels from under her bed and smiled, those matched the dress perfectly, with high, thin heels and wide satin straps that tied to small flowers at the back and front. Quickly slipping in the shoes she took a look in the mirror and grinned. She'd bought the dress with Logan in mind and now he would get to admire her in it._

_Deciding on only a little make-up, she applied foundation and scarcely dusted blush on her cheeks before lengthening her lashes with mascara and pushing her lips in the forefront with bright red lipstick. With her pale complexion and full lips, that color stood out perfectly, making her mouth look soft and inviting._

_Fishing out the beaded charm necklace she'd gotten from Lane a few years ago and the sterling silver bracelet with two dragon-flies that had been a gift from Logan, she crouched on the floor to dig out the box with her clutches from beneath her bed. Selecting the simple cream one she transferred the most important items in it, keys, lipstick, phone, ID, credit-card and some cash for emergency before standing up and opening her closet again to select a coat. She quickly chose the white wool hem jacket and pulled it on, buckling the belt at the same time her doorbell rung. She was actually ready on time._

_Quickly spraying on some perfume before leaving the bedroom, she smiled to herself. Logan wouldn't know what had hit him._

* * *

_The restaurant Steph had recommended turned out to be a quaint little Italian place with red and white checkered table cloths, small candles enclosed in glass bottles and very Italian personnel. The host spoke barely legible English and she'd had to strain to understand him, and the waiter that had come to serve them wasn't much better. But the food and wine were 100 percent authentic Italian and tasted divine. All in all, their dinner was more than just enjoyable and Rory had had the most fun she could remember since Tristan passed. A smile tugged at her lips every time she remembered taking off her jacket when they'd arrived at the restaurant and Logan's expression when he'd seen her dress. It was priceless and the desire in his dark eyes as he took in her was unmistakable and hnd made her insides burn._

_After dinner he'd taken her to a small bar she'd never known existed, close to Queens. Inside was cozy with weathered wooden benches, sturdy tables, polished floors, dim lightning and live music. The band that played that evening was local and they entertained the guests with one dance song after the other. Couples littered the small dance floor and Rory and Logan had spent almost two hours there and danced the night away. She was dead on her feet and a little tipsy when it was time to go home._

_In the cab they'd bickered back and forth about inconsequential things till the driver alerted then that they'd arrived. He'd come up with her and made them coffee while she changed out of her dress and flung her sandals under the bed again, remembering why she'd only worn them once before. They looked beautiful and did things for her legs, but they were uncomfortable, painful even._

_The next few hours were spent on her couch, sipping coffee and simply enjoying being with each other. It was those moments that Rory knew whatever happened between her and Logan in the future, as long as they could sit and just be together like this they'd always be alright. And it was that realization that kept her from moving away when Logan leaned in and brushed his lips against hers._

_And just like that the fire between them was ignited and they were unable and utterly unwilling to stop it from spreading out and consuming them. One kiss turned into two, three and soon that contact between their lips became longer, deeper, the heat growing and expanding. Logan's hands were relentless, running up and down her arms, over her back, her thighs, wrapping in her hair, framing her face as his tongue explored her mouth thoroughly._

_She didn't resist, returning his kisses with the same hunger and desperation, her own hands clenching on his pectorals, digging into his shoulders, running along his jaw, tangling in his soft blonde hair. In a matter of minutes she was on her back and he was leaning over her, his mouth on her neck, her hands fisting his shirt desperately as he forced little sounds of pleasure and arousal from her throat._

"_Logan," she murmured softly as he bit down on her collar bone and shivered as he soothed the spot with a swipe of his tongue. A guttural moan escaped his mouth at the sound of her voice and he lifted his head, his eyes almost black with lust._

"_Ace," he whispered, his voice strained. "If you don't want this to go any further, you have to say something now…"_

_His implication was clear. If she didn't stop him now, he wouldn't be able to stop himself later. She didn't want him to stop, ever._

"_No, don't stop. Please don't stop."_

_That was all it took and the last vestiges of Logan's self-control snapped. He growled something fierce and sat up, tugging at the hem of her shirt until she arched her back to allow him to take it off. The soft cotton material was flung over the couch and his eye burned into her exposed skin with such intensity that she broke out in goose bumps._

_Taking a deep breath, he softly cupped her heaving breasts and exhaled loudly, as if he didn't believe they were actually there doing __**that**__. "You're so beautiful, Ace," he whispered reverently and she felt a deep flush rising in her cheeks, making her own desire darkened eyes shine brighter._

_The look of utmost adoration was plain on his handsome features and Rory asked herself why she'd waited so long to allow them to progress to this next, inevitable step in their relationship. But all coherent thoughts left her as his warm mouth wrapped gently around a hardened nipple and all she could think about was the pleasure he was making her feel._

_In minutes they were both divested of most of their clothing and she was wrapped around him, legs around his hips, arms around shoulders, mouths fused together as he carried her to her bedroom. Gently laying her on the bed, her slipped her panties down her legs and shrugged off his boxers. Situating himself beside her, he took in her fully, his eyes darkening further as his erection swelled. She was so breathtaking. His mouth found a breast again as his hand caressed down her stomach, over her hips, before finally settling between her legs where he gently probed her wetness. Her breathing sped up as he slowly pushed a finger inside, curving it slightly to hit all the right places as he withdrew again. A few slow thrust he added another finger and his thumb found her throbbing little nub and rubbed small circles over it._

_Soon Rory couldn't take the gentle pleasure anymore and her hand slipped down his body and wrapped around his length. He hissed as she started pumping her fist up and down agonizingly slow. "Logan, I need you inside, please," she breathed and he nodded, removing his fingers from her and sitting up. She knew what he was looking for. "In the drawer of the nightstand," she whispered and he smiled, before turning slightly around and rummaging in the drawer for a second for a condom before returning to her. In a few seconds he'd rolled the rubber on and was positioned between her thighs, sliding home._

_Both exhaled as he entered her completely, Rory's nails dug into his back and he tensed slightly above her. He was fairly large and she was almost painfully tight. But she only needed a moment to adjust and as soon as she lifted her hips he started moving in and out in a steady pace._

_The pleasure was almost unbearable and Rory cried out with each movement forward, hugging ever closer to him. Both were panting harshly; sweat glistening on their bodies as they moved together, slowly leisurely. But there was only so much they could take and soon the pace increased, his thrusts becoming faster and harder as she cried out louder, moaning his names to the heavens. His arms straightened out as he lifted his chest from her so he could look at her feeling that she close. She wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him in desperation as his movements inside her took her higher and higher._

"_Logan!" she cried out as she felt that tightening low in her abdomen and he increased the pace again, thrusting harder and harder as he felt her clench around him as a low keening sound escaped her lips and she was flung over the edge, flying higher and higher till she crashed down to earth again. He was only a few short thrusts behind her, her name on his lips as he met his own pinnacle of pleasure and collapsed on top of her, breathing hard._

_Rory held him close, her breaths and heart calming as a smile formed on her face. This was right, she decided. This was absolutely right._

- **END FLASHBACK **-

Rory smiled as she came out of the shower, basking in the memories of that night. It had been perfect, just as every other night since then. Logan was an amazing lover and she was lucky to reap all of the benefits that came with it.

A delighted grin dominated her face as she put on the pale blue lace teddy she'd recently purchased and looked at herself in the mirror. The lace certainly did not do much to hide her skin, but the in-built bra had push-up cups that made her small mounds look at least twice bigger and the barely-there crotch area hid only the essentials. The color complimented her skin perfectly and brought out her hair and eyes. She brushed her brunette locks till they were shiny and fell around her shoulders and down her back just _so_, before applying a bit of peach colored lip-gloss and just a few drops of perfume. She then lay down on the bed, facing the door just as she heard the key turn in the front-door. They'd exchanged keys a few days ago, it was easier Logan had said and she'd agreed.

"Ace?" she heard him from the entrance and couldn't suppress a small giddy giggle from escaping.

"Bedroom," she called out to him and a moment later he turned the hall and stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes trained on the alluring picture she made, spread out on the sheets. "You like?"

He nodded dumbly at first before he cleared his throat and found his voice again. "I _love_."

"Then come here. What are you waiting for?"

A wolfish grin appeared on his face as he flung his suit jacket and tie over his shoulder and jumped into bed with her, capturing her lips in a deep kiss.

* * *

**AN2: Hope you liked it and it met your expectations. They're finally together! I know I left many details out and that you guys probably have many questions, but worry not, everything will be explained in time.**

**I want to thank all of you who have reviewed the last chapter, showing me that you stayed with this story despite the very long hiatus. I can't even begin to tell you how happy this makes me. I hope you will tell me your thoughts on this chapter too. I love you guys, you really are the best :)**

**A special thanks once again to my lovely beta _xshynenstarx_ for your help, advice and hard work. This story would have probably waited a few more years to be continued without you. You rock, I hope you know that.**

**Rory's outfit can be found here: jasmin - kaiba . polyvore . com; without the spaces. Check it out and tell me what you think.**

**Much love,**

**Jas**


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